The Dream
by LostAndAwaiting
Summary: When a dream Josie has brings her closer to certain guys, who will she chose? And what significance does this dream have? JosiexZ, hints of JosiexLucas, mentions JosiexVaughn
1. Coming to Z

The Dream  
Rating: K+ for language  
A/N: This is my first Strange Days fic. Hope you like it.  
Disclaimer: Don't own.

* * *

Josie awoke with a startling jolt

Josie awoke with a startling jolt. Sitting upright, she looked around. Corrine was asleep. Swallowing, she thought back to her dream. It was the fifth time it had happened this week.

"_Josie, Josie—NO!" Lucas was screaming at her as she finally destroyed the wormhole. Josie couldn't fathom how she did it, but suddenly, the wormhole was closing up._

_Lucas ran up to her. "No, Josie, what did you do?"_

_The redheaded girl looked up at him confusedly. "What, Lucas? I did it. I ended it. We're free now. No more worrying about Vaughn's dad or Durst or anything. No more falling into another dimension or having a second head suddenly appear. I did it Lucas…"_

_And suddenly the rest of the science club came into view._

_There stood Vaughn. He looked down at her with such sadness. Next to him were Marshall and Corrine. They stood awfully close, but their sadness matched Vaughn's. And lastly, Professor Z stood behind them. His hands were rubbing his eyes. He looked defeated._

_Josie's eyes looked back at Lucas. "What…? What happened? You're all supposed to be happy?!"_

_Lucas looked back at her through his glasses and sighed. "You did it, Josie, but you lost us."_

_Josie was ready to argue. How had ending the biggest mystery in their life caused her to lose them. And then she saw it. First, Vaughn disappeared. _

_Josie gasped, but by the time she could do anything, Marshall and Corrine were gone. Putting a hand on Lucas, he gave her one sad look before he, too, disappeared._

_Josie raised to get to Z in time. "No, no! Professor Z, not you…"_

_Half of his body was gone._

"_It's alright, Josie, you did it. You destroyed the wormhole. You just destabilized the continuum too fast, Josie." And as she went to throw her arms around him to keep him from disappearing, he vanished into thin air._

This left Josie alone and scared. Bending her knees, she rested her chin there and sighed. She could feel her heart beginning to calm down.

The past week she kept having this reoccurring dream and she didn't know what to do. Josie'd get about three hours of sleep before the dream would pop up. People started to notice her odd behavior.

The first few days, she was oddly quiet. She'd just sit and watch her friends. She was even nicer to Vaughn. Based on their past, she wasn't sure if she could ever trust him again, but now, faced with the idea that she'd lose him, this was different. Sure, their romance was over, but there was no reason they couldn't be friends.

Then she was moody and falling asleep in class. And during their usual meetings, she snapped at Corrine. The black hole was messing with matter and their current task was re-stabilizing it.

"Look, if you think you know the answer, you do it!" She yelled as she stomped out the science lab and slammed the door.

Falling to the floor, images of her dream were playing over and over in her head. What the hell was the matter with her?

Z opened the door and she looked up. "Josie, you alright?"

She sighed and just nodded. How could she explain her dream? Especially since he was in her dream and losing everyone, especially him, was a very daunting thought.

"I'm fine, Z." She said, hiding behind her copper hair.

He bent down so his face was on level with hers. She looked up momentarily and into his eyes, through his glasses. "Josie, if I believed you, I wouldn't be a very good… person." He said, trying to give her a cheesy smile.

She could tell he was straying away from 'teacher', because though he was, the entire science club would have to agree that they'd been through a lot and he was much closer than the revered position of 'teacher'.

Josie just swallowed and nodded.

"You know where to find me if you need me." He said as he got up and headed back to the classroom.

He knew when to let her be.

Heart racing, Josie slipped out of her bed. She was wearing an old Sex Pistols t-shirt and plaid pajama pants, but she knew she had to get out of the room and try and calm down. Normally, she'd just toss and turn and try to sleep, but clearly that wasn't working. The near week of sleep deprivation was proof.

Opening the door, she figured she'd see if Lucas was still up. He was always there for her and though there could be some awkward silences between them, she trusted Lucas.

Silently, she headed towards the boys' dorm, hoping that Durst or Mr. Pearson weren't prowling around.

Or the Janitor, for that matter.

However, it seemed like all was peaceful, contrary to Josie's own feelings and thoughts.

She didn't know what she would tell him, but at least getting it out there would make her feel better.

Right?

Knocking lightly on the door, she saw that the light wasn't on. She didn't want to wake any one up, but if they were up, they'd hear the soft patter on the door.

Nothing.

Josie turned away, her heart let down just a bit.

Where else could she turn?

Sure, she could wake people up, but for once, Josie didn't want to be a bother. After all, this was some silly dream that only happened to be plaguing her every moment of slumber. Swallowing, she knew that she should go and see Z. She finally gave into the quiet voice in the back of her head that had been pushing her to go to him since she woke up.

Quietly making her way towards the Science Lab, she knew his quarters were right next to it. Z wasn't pushy, but he made Durst give him that room, so that on the nights he was up late at the lab, he didn't have far to crash.

Josie smiled to herself. That's what she liked about him. He may seem like the easy pushover type, but when Z knew something, he just knew it. He would make sure that what needed to be done would get done. He was caring and considerate and had a cute smile.

"A cute what?" She thought to herself.

Since when did Josie Trent ever think that anything on Professor Z was "cute". But they more she thought about it, every time she pictured Z with a smile, she would smile. For, indeed, his smile was cute.

"Stop it, Josie." She scolded herself as she came to the lab.

The lights were off and it was dead silent. He must have headed in early, she figured. There wasn't much to be done since the wormhole had been somewhat stabilized - or at least its effects were - that morning.

Walking over to the adjacent door, she knocked on it a bit harder than she did to Lucas' and Marshall's.

She heard rustling in there and a very sleepy Z hit something as he made a rather large "Oof" noise. Not long after that, he came to the door and peering behind the door, he opened it.

"Josie?" He asked confused.

"I'm sorry, Z, really, but I just… Maybe I should just go." She said, feeling bad that she woke the poor guy up.

"No, no, it's fine. Hold on." He said as he retreated into the room and returned seconds later and opened the door fully. "Come in."

Josie gave him a big smile and headed in. Heading straight for his bed to sit on, instead of the two chairs which he was motioning towards. "I take it you're here about why I've been so…" He trailed off leaning against his dresser.

"Bitchy." Josie said so curtly, trying not to drool over him.

Z just nodded. "For back of a better word, yes." He said.

He was wearing a green t-shirt and a pair of shorts. His arms were crossed and he was just casually leaning on something. But Josie could see the way the material tightened over the man's chest, confirming the suspicion that Z was really toned.

After a pause, Z continued. "So, you wanted to tell me…"

Josie just nodded. "Right, you were here to talk to Z, not gawk and dream about how good he looks in his pajamas." She thought to herself. "What am I saying? I do not gawk at Z. Oh God, I do…"

"I don't really know what to say. It's this persistent dream about losing everything." She stated.

"And let me guess, it involves the wormhole." Z stated, moving closer to her.

Josie nodded. "I think that's why I am so effected by it. If I dreamt this anywhere else except Black Hole High, then I'd just shrug it off. But what if this is a message, you know? What if this is my conscious tapping into something above me."

Z looked her over and sighed. "But you really can't predict these things. This isn't concrete science here, Josie. There is no rulebook on the ins and outs of black holes. We could be sucked in tomorrow. That's what is so great about their future- there is an infinite number of possibilities. So, why worry."

Josie let out and exasperated breath and laid back, putting an emphasis on how dire her situation was. "But if I'm the reason why the world ends…" She was about to object.

"Then we're all gone and you can't do anything about it anyway."

"But I saw you all disappear." She said, her voice shaking. Josie looked up at him. He could tell that something emotional was about to come as he was hovering near her.

"I mean I know I'm not the easiest to get along with, but this is the first place where I feel like I actually belong. I mean my mom just up and dumps me at all these boarding schools, I never get too attached, but here… it's just different."

"And seeing everyone leave made you realize how important everyone is." Z said taking a seat beside her to try and comfort her.

Josie simply nodded. She was fighting too hard to not cry that if she spoke, it might have turned into a soppy, clichéd mess of teenage angst. No, Josie would not let him see her like that.

"I mean I watched as Marshall and Corrine just disappeared. And then Vaughn left and I had all this guilt about what might have been, but I know we're over. And then Lucas looked at me and I felt like this was all my fault. But there you were, Z, you were half gone and you were telling me that I did it. And watching you go…" Josie trailed off, not wanting to finish what she said, and also not being able to as she bit down on her lip.

"Broke my heart." She ended in her own thoughts.

Z put a comforting hand on her arm. "Well, for now, it's just a dream. We're here now and that's what matters. The future is so unpredictable that right now is the only thing that truly only matters."

She looked over at him, all blotched from preventing the tears from streaming down her cheeks. "You really think so, Z."

"I do." He said simply.

She looked up and was suddenly lost in thought. It must have been about a half hour before she realized that Z had fallen asleep, half balled in the corner of his bed. The light was still on, but suddenly, she felt weary and tired, but calm. She scooted in closer to him and she felt the sleeping body lean in to her. And the last thing she remembered before sleep finally took her was that thank God it was a Friday night, because she would have missed her first class the next day if it wasn't.


	2. Things Could Get Awkward

A/N: Because of the whole nature of this fic, teacher/ student, I'm warning about it's content. So if you don't like the whole age thing, don't read. I'm also not sure how "deep" their relationship will go. So if you have any opinions about this, please feel free to review or pm me.

* * *

_Josie was in Z's arms. He was holding her close and the two of them were reading "The Particle Problem in the Theory of Relativity" by Einstein and Rosen. The book was in his hands as his arms wrapped around her. Josie's head was comfortably resting on his chest and though the two were tensed for some unknown reason, lying like this was more than relaxing as they were stationed in front of a warm fireplace._

_It illuminated the room and it seemed that this would be in the future, though not too far off as neither had aged that much._

_Oh, if life could be like this._

_Josie scrunched up her face at the last paragraph he read._

_"What I don't get is how our wormhole managed to stay stabilized while we passed through it? I know they theorized that it would need enough electricity to change nothing but the relative variables, but how would Pearson have got it to conduct that much of a charge?" Josie asked._

_Z kissed the top of her head. "I think it had something to do with the chi ball you produced. The wormhole created its own vortex and messed with everything. However, you took stable matter into unstable matter and it created it's own relativity." Z said. "Of course this is only a guess based on theories of people that have never experienced a wormhole."_

_"I think they were pretty much right. It's hard to say." She said with a sigh and settling into his embrace. He was warm and she could feel how much he cared for her like it was a part of his touch._

_"Let's continue. Don't think about the past, Josie. We'll get them back."_

_---  
_

Josie awoke somewhat dazed, but thankfully fully rested. Rubbing the crusts from her eyes, she yawned. And then she noticed it. The walls were blue, not white like in her room. The bed was more comfortable, not like hers. The room was bigger and there was no extra bed and no Corrine.

"Oh God, what did I do?" She panicked, and then realized her clothes were still on.

"Phew" Josie thought as she relaxed a bit. She didn't want to move, yet. But as her body settled into place, she realized that though her clothes may be on, there was a body next to hers.

Turning her head slightly, she saw Z and the rush of memories came back. The dream and how he comforted her. She smiled to herself and he shifted just a bit. He was so close to her and she was surprised at how open he was. He probably wasn't used to a female in his bed. Josie mentally snickered at that.

But seeing him like that, she turned to her side and put her head on his chest before reality set it.

"Josie Trent! What are you doing?!" She scolded herself. And yet she couldn't pull away from him.

Well not since the sleeping Z put his arm on her.

She was suddenly in a predicament. As well as a moral one. She could either wake him up and leave and go through a ridiculously embarrassing situation, or put it off.

And so Josie did what she did best. She let her eyes closed and waited for Z to make the first move.

---

Z's eyes popped open the second he realized there was another human being laying with him. He was leisurely playing with soft hair when he remembered that he normally didn't wake up feeling someone laying on top of him and having his hand in their hair. Or rather anything like that hadn't happened in awhile. Much to Professor Z's dismay.

"Josie!" He thought as his eyes shot open. It seemed he had fallen asleep with his glasses on and they somehow managed to stay on.

He saw the fiery red hair that his hand was so neatly nestled in. He then realized he had two options. He could either jolt her awake, have a long, drawn out scene involving a lot of embarrassing moments, or casually make this out as just a silly situation which the two found themselves in.

Now how to wake her up? This could get awkward.

He tried to shift positions, but he didn't want to roll over on her. That could be even worse. So he coughed loudly and shifted his weight to his left so that if Josey just toppled over, his arm would catch her.

Suddenly, a mumbling came from Josey. It was a groggy sort of noise and Z didn't know whether to be happy or anxious.

"Z?" She asked, confusedly as she sat up.

He nodded and tried to smile. "Yeah, it seems we fell asleep last night." He said as if it's nothing that a student just merely sleeps in a teachers bed.

"Sorry. I just remember talking and then I was out." Josey said, lying.

There was an awkward pause where Josey, sitting between Z's legs, and Z just stared at each other. Josie's red hair was in every direction in its ponytail and Z clearly was not a morning person.

They'd both laugh if they weren't in their currant position. But they were.

"So…" Z said.

"Yeah, I have stuff and then breakfast, you know…" Josie said as she got up.

Z wanted to say something to clear what had happened up, but it was no big deal. None whatsoever. He went to stop her, but knowing that it would just make the whole complicated situation even more complicated, he stayed motionless.

As Josie reached the door, she gave him a "we're still cool" look and said, "Thanks for the talk, Z."

He smiled back as she shut the door.

Z lay there for a few minutes, shaking his mind of what happened. How did it come that Josey Trent had made her way into his bed, into his arms. And how come he wasn't truly bothered by it. And why did that bother him?

Sighing, he got up and prepared himself for the day to come. Slipping into his lab, he put the whole affair aside. After all, there was much more important things going on than the over dramatization of Josey and him.


	3. Confused and Hurt

A/N: Here's the next installment. Sorry it took awhile. School got the better of me, but at least it's summer! Read and review. Thanks!

* * *

It was still early when Josie left Z's room.

She slipped into her room without any problems. Corrine was in bed and her sheets were still sloppily thrown about the bed. She couldn't imagine trying to go back to bed, so she began to get ready.

Sighing, she looked at herself in the mirror. She didn't want to think about what had transpired between the two of them. But her mind kept thinking back to Z. How comfortable he was, how warm he was, how his chest still managed to stretch out his shirt.

"Josie, what are you playing at?" She asked herself, running a brush through her hair.

Corrine, who was previously asleep in her bed, switched positions, and looked over at her roommate. "Where've you been?" The girl asked, sitting up.

"What do you mean? I just woke up." Josie said, avoiding the subject of her whereabouts the previous night. How could she tell her roommate she was in the bed of their favorite professor? And not only that, but they woke up in each other's arms.

Yeah, like that would go over well.

"I woke up a few hours ago and you weren't in your bed. Been to see Vaughn?" Corrine asked a little more than innocently.

"We're done. I can't trust him. I can't excuse what he did in the wormhole, in the past. He's too much like his father." Josie said not meaning to go on. Shaking away previous feelings of being angry, she added, "Besides, I was just by myself. Needed a walk, to clear my head."

There was a silence between the two.

"You know you can always talk to me, Josie. We've been getting on for awhile now, and I won't pretend like I understand you, but I'd consider us friends." Corrine stated matter-of-factly, a glint of true concern in her voice.

Josie knew she had been on edge lately, and she inwardly sighed. Finally having a decent amount of sleep in her was doing wonders for her thought process. Josie nodded to Corrine. There was just too much. She didn't want to reveal her fear of losing everyone. Moving around as often as Josie had, she was used to that.

Sighing, she turned around to face her roommate and gave her a small smile. "I'm sorry I've been sort of snippy the past few days. I can't really describe it, except to say that I keep having this reoccurring dream. It's about the hole." Josie said limiting the information she was giving.

Corrine nodded. "I figured it was something like that. Do you think it's someone or something in the wormhole actually sending you messages?"

"I really don't know what it is, to be honest."

Corrine, now out of bed, went to head to the bathroom to ready herself. "I take it you talked to Z?"

"If that's what you want to call it," Josie thought to herself, a self-dignified smirk on her face.

"Yeah, he helped - at least calmed me down." The redhead answered, adding to herself, "In ways you can never know…"

Josie recalled waking up with his arm around her, and his head placed securely above hers in a secured manner to suggest protection. Closing her eyes, she savored in the moment just a bit, before the door slamming woke her up out of her reverie. Corrine was starting the water for her shower and Josie put her head on the desk.

"Damn…" She muttered.

Why was she thinking like this? It had to stop. So what? One meaningless night spent in someone else's bed. That's normal. Right?

Screwing up her face, knowing she was lying to herself, Josie grabbed a fresh uniform and got dressed.

---

Breakfast was rather uneventful. They made idle chitchat, but most were still sleepy. Josie seemed to be the only one actually up. Lucas was missing from the group and Josie cringed a bit. She wanted someone to talk to as Marshall and Corrine were talking about their Calculus homework and Vaughn, sitting with his jock friends, kept looking over at her.

She knew he wanted to talk to her and sighing into her apple juice, Josie figured she might as well get it over with. She had a feeling she knew what it was about. And though she didn't want to deal with it, it was best to just get it over with.

Walking over to her ex, Josie gave him a small smile. "Hey." She said simply.

"I… ugh… was going to talk to you later. Didn't want to bother you." Vaughn said as he got up from the table.

"It's okay. I wasn't really doing much." They walked outside of the cafeteria and she leaned against the wall.

"What Vaughn?" She asked a bit harsh, waiting for him to say something rather predictable.

"I was just wondering if you were doing any better. You looked pretty bad the last couple of days…" He said a bit sore from her tone.

"Yeah, it's kind of a long story." She said a bit curt.

"Josie, please don't be like this. It doesn't-"

"Don't go there, Vaughn. You're about to say it doesn't have to be this way. Well, for right now it does." She crossed her arms and looked up at him.

"I still care about you."

"But you care about helping your lying, cheating, evil father even more. I can't forget what you did. It doesn't just go away." Josie said, still angry.

"I know that, Josie." Vaughn said meekly, looking down into his hands and then back into her eyes. "I just don't want to lose the one person that I've ever truly cared about this much."

Josie sighed, softening. She knew she was being harsh on him, but his words still touched her. She wasn't exactly over him, but she just didn't want to go back there. Not after how he betrayed her. She wouldn't take after her mom like that. Not by choosing men that perpetually hurt her.

"Look, I know you're hurt, too. But I can—"

Before she got the chance to reject him once again, Vaughn took up the initiative, and right there in the hallway, he kissed her. Before she got the chance to pull away, she heard a noise to her left and looked. And there stood Lucas, nearly paralyzed, and by the on his face, crushed. He headed into the cafeteria without a word to the two of them.

Josie looked up at Vaughn, angered. "Now look what you've done!" She said, pushing past him and after Lucas.


	4. Reactions

A/N: Sorry for no Josie/Z action in the last chapter, but this chapter has some. Don't fret! There shall be more!!  
Please read and review! I know you people are reading. The story IS getting hits.  


* * *

Josie ran into the cafeteria after Lucas, but it seemed he headed straight out of there. Where he went, Josie had no idea. Sighing she decided to head to the library. She could look through a few books and maybe calm her nerves a bit.

What could she possibly say to Lucas anyway? Sorry? It wasn't like she owed him an apology. Though Josie noticed that the normally closeted boy was much more happy and open since Vaughn and her split up.

She didn't really know what to say to her friend. She knew he liked her, but was she willing to jump into a relationship so soon after breaking up? She did like Lucas. He was smart, funny, and kind of nerdy in that cute way. But with Vaughn still in the picture and with his dumbass move of kissing her in front of Lucas, she wondered if he'd even talk to her.

At least for now, she could escape into the comforting harbors of a book. At any rate, there was no complicated drama in that. And sure, she wasn't the stereotypical nerd, but the more Josie delved into the mysteries behind Black Hole High, the more she was interested in the science realm of things. Josie had a knack for science, but since coming to Blake Holsey, she was sort of thrown into it. And wanting to know more about what could cause a black hole could ultimately help, maybe even close it.

Besides reading was a no action sort of event. Nothing like a good book to keep her heart rate down. Besides, she wanted to check out the book she had talked about in her last dream - "The Particle Problem in the Theory of Relativity" by Einstein and Rosen.

It may have been a bit above her head, but if she needed help, she was sure Z would help her.

Although that might be a bit awkward.

"So, Z, I know I was in your bed last night, but can you explain the finer points of quantum mechanics. K, thanks, bye." Josie played the scene over in her head and had to smile, though it was brief.

What was she going to do? Bringing it up would be mortifying, but how can she ignore it? He was too much of a gentleman to do anything embarrassing to her, but then again, he was also professional. She just wondered where the teacher part of him ended and if whatever it was started.

"Whatever it was?!" She asked herself. "It's nothing. We're nothing. Just… friends?"

She didn't want to think about it. Though she did realize she didn't want to say that they just had the relationship level of teacher and student. She didn't want to know what that meant and decided it best not to think about it.

However, she was forced to stop thinking about it, as right at that precise moment the Janitor was mopping and his mop just so happened to come across right where she was walking. Landing straight on the floor head first, Josie swore. The Janitor used a cautionary warning, and when Josie got up, he stood there, peering at her through his thick glasses.

"Careful, Josie Trent. Don't want to play with fire and get burned." He said in that somewhat mysterious, know-it-all tone that he nearly always had.

She gave him an odd look, conveying that she didn't know exactly what he was talking about. But wasn't that usual?

"You don't want to second guess yourself, because of a dream." He said as he disappeared into the nearest classroom.

She watched him leave, and it took her a second or two to realize that he mentioned a dream. How was it that he knew she had the dream? Did Z say anything? Surely not. Z wasn't the type to be chatting it up with the creepy janitor. After all, no one knew much about the man, and she didn't remember any time where she recalled Z saying that the two had talked.

How did the man always know everything? It was like he was always there when something happened and he always had something to say.

Puzzled, Josie walked into the school's library and went to go look for some books in the physics department. Skimming the titles of the books, she looked for the one book specifically as well as any others that might sound like they'd help.

"Josie?" She heard someone familiar call her voice.

She didn't answer. Just replied with a 'hmm'.

"Josie, what are you doing here?"

Finally, she looked up when she realized that it was Z. Blushing, she grabbed a book. "I'm just looking around. What are you doing here?" It wasn't like most teachers went to the library.

"Same, really. I was just going to do a bit of light reading on particle acceleration." He said.

Josie smiled at the fact that he used to word 'light'. Particle acceleration was anything but. At least things weren't awkward.

"I'm just looking up books on wormholes. Re-going over things. I wanted to check out "The Particle Problem in the Theory of Relativity"."

"By Albert Einstein. Great pick. We went over it in college." Z said with a smile.

"Yeah, it seems interesting. I don't know much about it." Josie said as she found the book that they were talking about.

"Well, I'm not doing much today except research, and you know there's a science meeting a bit later, but if you want to come back to the lab, you're more than welcome." Z offered.

Josie smiled and nodded her head. She couldn't help but want to. The way he was talking, she assumed things were just brushed under the rug. And she could live with that. After all, it wasn't like she was expecting anything.

"Well, let me check this out." She said as she went to walk past him.

Unfortunately, he was turning at the same point, and as she walked past, she brushed up against his chest.

"Err, sorry…" They both awkwardly tried to apologize.

"So much for not being awkward…" Josie thought to herself, trying to smile and act like it was nothing.

Heading over to the librarian, she wondered if she should be going over to the science lab. After all, was every glance and every mishap going to send them back to remembering the night before? But what was so wrong? Nothing happened. Nothing was going to happen. It was just two people in bed.

At least that was what Josie Trent kept repeating in her head as Z checked out the books that he had, and the two headed towards his classroom.


	5. Science vs Romance

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a bit shorter than I wanted, but there's a bit of Josie/Z fluff.  
Thanks for all the reviews! There are Josie/Z shippers!! Please read and review!  


* * *

Josie Trent was not one for subtlety. She barged into things. After all, what was the point of beating around the bush? For Josie, she was the type of girl that spoke her mind, and let the chips fall where they may. There was no point in living a life worried about what people thought.

But here she was, in the science lab, with Z, and neither of them was saying a word. They were both staring at their book and not saying a single, solitary word. The lab was curiously quiet.

Josie would occasionally clear her throat. Z would scratch his head or utter the sporadic "hmm".

"So what if we just sent a very high electric charge into the wormhole?" Josie asked, wondering if it was the obvious answer.

"It might reverse the current effect, but I don't see how we could have a high enough voltage to disrupt the wormhole's flow." He said, putting his book down.

At least they were talking.

Josie nodded, a little preoccupied. "What if we somehow sent someone in and they were hooked up to a charge…"

"Then they'd get electrocuted." Z said, his eyebrow rose.

"Right… and that's a bad thing." She said, smiling.

Z laughed and then looked at her. "It's good to see you smiling, you know."

Josie blushed, not knowing what to say for once in her life. "Yeah, an actual night of sleep really perks a person up." She said, grinning.

Josie didn't know if she should bring up the previous night. Would it be too awkward?

"Wait a minute?! Me, awkward? I live for awkward." Josie thought to herself.

"You know I didn't mean to fall asleep. I guess it was just talking to you that calmed me down." Josie said. Now that it was out, she was unable to look him straight in the eye.

"I'm glad you came to me, Josie. We were all starting to worry about you. You can always come to me if something is bothering you." Z said in a soft, friendly way. "I'd like to think that I'm more than a mere teacher to you guys."

"I want you to be more than a teacher…" Josie thought, not even bothering to scold herself. "But how do I talk to you about you…"

"Yeah, I figured you wouldn't totally be mad if I woke you up at two in the morning to talk." Josie said with a small smile.

"As long as it isn't to rant about Madison or chitchat about boys." He said with a kind smile.

"Trust me, I don't even want to think about that…" Josie said her eyes popping out a bit.

"I heard you and Vaughn had split up."

Josie nodded. "Yeah, and he still wants to get back together, and Lucas saw us today. It's going to be a very interesting at the meeting later." Josie sighed.

"Well, forget them for now. Not much you can do, though I wouldn't hold too much against Vaughn. He's in a tricky position."

"So you're taking his side?" Josie raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not on anyone's side. I'd just rather none of you were upset. Seeing how you get when you're upset, Josie, it's not a pleasant experience for all involved." He said, jokingly.

Josie nodded. "I guess. I just wish this whole dating thing were easier. Why can't it just be like "I like you", "you like me", and that's that?" She said a bit exasperated, not realizing she was using personal pronouns.

Z's cheeks flushed a bit. "Don't ask me. Not many girls for science professors. I guess we're not a hot commodity."

Josie smiled a bit. "Well, it's a shame."

They looked at each other for a few seconds too long when Josie coughed and the two went quickly back to their books, pretending that they didn't just have a moment.

It went on like that for about a half hour before Corrine and Marshall came in. Josie smirked at the thought of how much time they were spending together. Sooner or later, Lucas slunk in, and not long behind him, Vaughn walked in seemingly proud of himself. Josie scowled at Vaughn as Z started the meeting.

They started right in on the finer points in physics. The five of them took some notes and then got to the lab. Josie was working on magnetism, Marshall and Lucas were working on volume and mass, and Vaughn and Corrine were working with chemicals. Z took to electricity himself.

It seemed that Josie and Z were working on similar hypothesis. Twice they needed the same object, and once when they went for the pliers, Z's hand brushed by Josie's. She looked up at him, and he muttered a simple apology.

"Really, it's okay." Josie thought to herself with a smirk. "You can touch all you want."

She mentally laughed at how willing she was allowing these thoughts to pop up in her head. Josie figured she was thinking them for a reason, even if nothing was ever going to happen.

It seemed like everything was going along well. No one was having major problems, and though the volume and weight tests were being messed up by the wormhole, no one had any major catastrophes. For once.

The group continued to work until the sun went down. Finally, when Z noticed how late it was getting, he decided to call it a night. The club disbanded, but before Josie left, Z smiled over at her.

"Hopefully, you get a full night's sleep. I'll be up late though, if you need to talk." He said with a smile.

Josie nodded with a "Thanks".

For her sake, she would get a full night's rest.


	6. Protege Moi

A/N: So sorry that it's been ages, but I kinda forgot about my fanfics and life got really hectic, but yay 4 hour layovers in Chicago O'Hare! Also, expect the next chapter fairly soon. I kinda have an idea where this is going.

Warning: Still the same, age play. Meaning Josie/Z fluff. And lots of it!

Please read and review!

* * *

_Things were just as they were in the original nightmare. Josie stood back with a smile, only everyone else wasn't. It was like suddenly, there was barely any light, and every one was looking down at her._

"_I did it, guys. It's over. The hole is destabilized." She said, sweeping her hair back, exasperated._

_Corrine was the first to shake her head. And that's when Josie noticed it. It was like their frames were shaking. She wasn't though. Soon Lucas had disappeared. Then Corrine. She tried to rush at them, to save them. She got to Vaughn, but all she was clutching was air. He looked so sorry, too._

_Josie turned her head to watch Lucas slowly disappear. _

"_No! Lucas, wait!" She shouted after him._

_But once again it was too late. _

"_Z!" She thought. _

_Josie picked up her head. Z wasn't standing too far away. He looked almost sad._

"_It's okay, Josie. You tried." It was like the molecules inside him were bouncing off one another at such a pace that his body was nearly vibrating._

"_No, not you, Z." She said, grabbing his hand._

_It was cold, like it wasn't there._

"_The wormhole, Z. We'll be safe there." She said, as she headed over to the hole. _

_It was wide open and Josie looked over at the abyss. _

"_Now or never, do or die!"_

---

Another dream, another nightmare, another morning of waking up in a cold sweat. Breathing heavily, Josie Trent shuffled out of bed at two in the morning. Again. Again she was waking up, and trying to shake this feeling of inevitable doom. It was rising up through her stomach like bad heartburn.

She caught her Velvet Underground t-shirt on her bed and swore. Luckily Corrine was a heavy sleeper and out cold. All she needed was to wake up her roommate – or rip one of her favorite shirts. That would make the morning that much worse.

Carefully, Josie walked, rather tiptoed, into the bathroom they shared and splashed some water onto her face. Staring up at her reflection, she wondered if Z was still up. It wouldn't hurt to check. If he was, then fine. If he wasn't, Josie wouldn't wake him up again. Besides they didn't need another predicament, as comfortable and nice as it was.

Slipping out of her room, Josie found herself once again trying to dodge Durst and janitor. It seemed like both were nowhere around, and she easily made her way to the lab in no time without any trouble. The light was on, and Josie could here some noises within. Knocking softly, she entered the room, not waiting for a reply.

Z looked up and adjusted his glasses. "Bad dreams?" He asked a sad smile on his face.

"Yeah, the same one, but not. I don't know. I thought I had it figured out." Josie said with a sigh as she plopped herself down on a station.

"Hmm, well try not to think about it. Have you had a chance to talk to Lucas or Vaughn?" He said, going back to tinkering with whatever device was in his hands.

"Yeah, no. And it's not likely to happen either. I'm avoiding Vaughn and Lucas is avoiding me."

"This dream could just be unresolved tension. You did say last night that you realized how much everyone means to you. Well, maybe this is just your conscious trying to tell you that. It might just be your head." Z looked up, giving Josie a knowing grin. "But what do I know? I'm a physicist, not a doctor."

Z was smart like that. Knowing him, he was right. Josie just needed to talk to the both of them. But this, this was crazy awkward. And not awkward fun like yelling penis in the park, or good awkward like waking up in the arms of your attractive science teacher. No, this was explaining to Vaughn that they were over while trying to avoid him kissing her, while simultaneously trying to talk to Lucas and ask him what was up.

"Ugh, Z… this is far too much drama for one girl." Josie said, her head collapsing into her arms.

"Like you said, too bad it wasn't easy. "I like you" and "You like me."" Z chuckled a bit.

"Yeah, see. Easy peasy, Z, easy peasy."

Z looked back up at Josie and was giving her that classic grin. Josie swallowed hard. Damn, he looked good. His hair was slightly shaggy, and his grin was making her melt. The way his lips curled softly. But then, there was something else. This wasn't his usual He smirked at her, which was slightly uncharacteristic of him, which made her suddenly think, "Is he flirting with me?"

Now that was a shock to the system. I mean it was one thing to like a guy and to even flirt with him, but him flirting back? But maybe he wasn't. This was Z. Z was just friendly. That had to be it. You know, just Z being nice. Whatever it was, it was most definitely not flirty. Silly to even think about, really.

With a yawn, Josie took one of the science books. "I might as well try and do something useful, and with that five page report on radio waves coming up…" She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Hey, I have to try and get something into your head." He turned back to his chemicals, smiling under his mask.

Josie started perusing the current chapter they were studying, and took notes when she needed. Soon though, the power of how boring physics could be overtook her, and her head was lying on the book with her pen still in her hand.

It actually took awhile for Z to notice. He was focused on preparing his next lesson in chemistry, mixing chemicals, and setting up the right equipment. Finally when he was done, he looked up to find Josie fast asleep. Having fallen asleep at his desk many times, he knew how uncomfortable it was. Lightly tapping her, Z tried to wake her up.

Nothing happened.

He tapped her again, with the same result. It seemed that not only was she a heavy sleeper, but still being quite sleep deprived was having its effects.

Finally giving up, Z removed the pen from her hand and thought about carrying her to his room. She could have the bed. But that meant that he'd have to carry her into the hall and then into his room. That would look bad. Still, he couldn't just leave her there.

So, retreating into his own room, he grabbed a few blankets and a pillow and headed back out to the lab. Josie was still passed out, not having moved a millimeter. Smiling to himself, he laid out a comforter and the pillow. Looking over at her, he then wondered how hard it would be to carry her. She was tiny, but it'd been while since he carried a girl – well, he'd never carried a girl before, unless one counted carrying their three-year-old niece.

Muttering to himself, Z figured he could do it. Sure, he was a little scrawny, but he had muscle. He wasn't weak. Moving over to her, He put her arm around his neck and he attempted to lift her from the chair. It wasn't too difficult, but he was glad he decided on not moving her to his room.

Josie stirred in his arms. Opening her eyes slowly, she was a bit confused. Was Z really carrying her? No, it must be a dream.

"Z?" She questioned, her voice not that audible and very sleepy sounding.

"It's okay, Josie. I'm just putting you down here. You can go back to sleep."

Josie nodded and put her head on his chest. Z tried not to think about it. He was just concerned about her sternocleidomastoid muscles. Yeah, Z reasoned, that was what he was worried about.

Z placed her on the makeshift bed and put the blanket around her. He still wanted to go over the next chapter in the chemistry book before he called it a night, and so he headed to his teacher's desk and pulled the book out.

Only his thoughts turned from physical chemistry to human chemistry, and the thought of Josie snuggling him turned into dreams of Josie snuggling him. And before he knew it, he found himself in the same situation that he had saved Josie from: falling asleep at his desk.

Dawn broke and when Josie awoke, she came to realize that Z picking her up was not a dream. In fact, it was very real. She sat up groggily and took in the lab. Sure, sleeping on the floor wasn't that comfortable, but she was quite grateful to him.

Speaking of Z, Josie looked around trying to find him when she saw that he was fast asleep at his desk. Josie took the blanket that he had put on her, and walked over to his desk. Putting it around his shoulders, Josie smiled down at him.

It was late morning by the time Z woke up. His neck muscles hurt, but he was surprised that he wasn't cold. It seemed that there was a blanket on him. Stretching his arms and neck, Z then noticed a little note. It read:

_Z,_

_Thanks for everything._

_Josie_


End file.
